NDH Director of Neighbourhoods meets Grant Shapps - 22.02.2011

Representatives of Advantage South West, the housing procurement consortium, delivered some good news to Housing Minister Grant Shapps last week during a visit to the House of Commons.

Photo shows left to right: Donna Baddeley, NDH; Richard Connolly, Devon & Cornwall Housing; Grant Shapps MP; David Renwick, ASW Chairman and Caroline Moore, Yarlington Housing.

The purpose of the meeting was to brief the Minister about the millions of pounds being saved by members of the consortium through innovation in the design and procurement of new homes. Advantage South West was established some seven years ago by North Devon Homes, Ocean Group, Yarlington Housing Group and Devon & Cornwall Housing Association. The procurement club has grown significantly since then, enabling housing associations to work together and achieve better value through the extra purchasing power of a ‘larger’ client.

During the briefing Donna Baddeley, NDH Director of Neighbourhoods, outlined the consortium's latest project to fit photovoltaic panels to 25,000 homes: "We are launching the project in April this year and it will go a long way to reducing electricity bills for our customers, tackling fuel poverty and creating new green technology jobs in the region."

Advantage South West Chairman, David Renwick, commented that the prospect of free electricity for tenants certainly seemed to temporarily brighten the prevailing gloom in Westminster: “We had a most productive and helpful meeting. The Minister supported us in developing further initiatives that will continue to help tenants and create jobs.”

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